About Art from Ashes

WHO WE ARE
The Mission of Art from Ashes is to empower struggling youth through poetry and other therapeutic workshops that facilitate expression, connection and transformation.

Watch our 4-minute video produced by Rachel Julkowski!
:: Low Res (small file) :: High Res (large file)

— Carlos, age 14, in a poem about the shooting death of his older brother

Every day in America, children face enormous events that people of any age would find difficult to endure. For young people the emotional toll is heavy, and often suffered throughout their lives. Imagine the cavernous depth of Carlos's loss. Listen to Khlib, a 15-year-old in a residential treatment center, who found his voice and a way to express his pain through writing poetry:

“People who have never heard the word poetry are still poets. When I was full of anger, breaking things, or just keeping warm inside myself crying, that was my poetry...when you can identify what your poetry is saying and start using the canvas of your world and not just breaking things there is so much flavorful love. I’ve learned how to voice my soul through poetry, and it’s just invigorating to think back to when I always had these feelings inside me, but I never let the world see my shine.”

What is our obligation to children who lose family members to violence, alcoholism, or drug addiction? What can we offer those whose lives are fractured by emotional or sexual abuse?

Art from Ashes Inc. is a Colorado nonprofit organization formed in 2003 to address the therapeutic needs of high-risk young people through poetry and other creative arts. The Phoenix Rising writing and spoken word process was developed after extensive research and 14 years of working with high-risk youth. Art from Ashes contracts with other youth service organizations to provide therapeutic poetry and creative arts workshops for high-risk youth, including youth in residential treatment, those who live in urban settings, are homeless, incarcerated, court-involved—any young person in need of hope and a self-determined future.

:: CLICK HERE for a list of facilitators, staff and volunteers.

WHAT WE DO
The Phoenix Rising process combines expression, the articulation of painful events or circumstances in their young lives; connection, the ability to release the pain and fear of those experiences among peers and mentors; and transformation, using the power of strong, healthy words to encourage an identity that is not based in victimization. Recent statistics of our work with youth conducted by the National Research Center have shown that of the participants surveyed, 100% of the youth enjoyed the workshops; 73% feel better about themselves; 80% cared more about the feelings of others; and 80% wanted to be more involved in their community.

The Report on Community Based Youth Organizations by the Carnegie Foundation found that young people who are involved in after-school community arts programs:

are 4 times more likely to have won school-wide attention for their academic achievement
are elected to class office within their schools more than 3 times as often
are 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
are 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
are more than 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem

As well, numerous studies claim that participation in the arts promotes positive outcomes in other academic disciplines and in social development and cognitive capacity and that learning in the arts helps shape motivation, intense self-discipline, confidence and perseverance.

Our program not only has been immensely successful in encouraging transformation and leadership in young people, but also has been enthusiastically welcomed by youth.

You can help us reach more youth with your tax-deductible cash donation. CLICK HERE to view our sponsorship levels or download the information here.

You now can donate online through GivingFirst.org, a program of Community First Foundation, that provides a link between giving and the community.
Offers of assistance and in-kind donations would also be very much appreciated. For other ways in which you can help, please contact Volunteer Coordinator Kaite Dunn or link to our SUPPORT page.

:: CLICK HERE for a list of our facilitators, staff and volunteers.

HOW IT WORKS
As early as the first century, physicians were prescribing poetry for their patients. Benjamin Franklin used poetry therapy with his patients in the 18th century and published their work. Many other scientists and doctors, including Freud, Adler, Jung, and Reik have attributed much of the understanding of the subconscious to poetry. Today there are institutes and places of higher education that support poetry and other creative arts therapies. Because of their effectiveness in dealing with trauma, the benefits of poetry for health and wholeness are now recognized by those in contemporary medical and scientific communities.

“By encouraging people to put difficult emotions and memories into words, writing therapy provides therapeutic release. For this reason it has been shown to be particularly beneficial for those who tend to keep their feelings internalized. After a session of writing therapy, many people say they feel calmer and more in control.
In addition, scientists believe that the release offered by writing affects the body's physical capacity to withstand stress and to fight off stress-related infection and disease. Writing therapy has also been shown to have a positive impact on heart rate and blood pressure.”

—WholeHealthMD.com

The benefits of catharsis, connection and transformation are long-term for the participants. Guided poetry writing workshops focus on these three vital processes to restore a sense of value and purpose to high-risk youth:

catharsis–the purging of potentially damaging thoughts/emotions;
connection–developing relationships with the facilitator, the featured poets and others in the group; and
transformation–restoration through self-awareness and the formation of a more positive identity using the creative power of the written and spoken word.

Providing an opportunity for young people to express themselves can draw them out of isolation—and listening carefully to what they have to say is therapeutic in itself. As Paul Tillich contends, "listening is the first duty of love." Additionally, writing and hearing your own judgments, emotions and behaviors is key to self-awareness.

Because most young people in the workshops recognize the love and respect being afforded them, they also begin to acknowledge that others—of various cultures, races, religions and lifestyles—have similar experiences and emotions. This awareness serves to reconnect isolated young people, not only with the others but also with the poem itself:

“The poem, as an externalization of the participant's thoughts and feelings, becomes symbolically an understanding "someone" with whom the patient can share his despair.”

—Dr. Jack Leedy, director of the Poetry Therapy Center in New York

Thirdly, using specific poetry prompts to tap into the imaginative right brain, young people begin to understand their creative power and can be guided into an awareness of their value and a recognition of their purpose.

Please donate through the GivingFirst website, a program of Community First Foundation, dedicated to providing a link between giving and the community.

WHY WE DO IT
Art from Ashes is dedicated to providing creative therapies to marginalized youth, many of whom have been wounded by abuse, neglect or societal abandonment. Yet despite the apparent disconnection with society and often with their own families, it is our experience that young people maintain an awareness that what they think and feel is important and must be shared. But if a young person has been consistently discounted and devalued, they can end up alone, angry and with feelings of worthlessness. This sense of helplessness and isolation can lead to violence, criminal acts, "lack of conscience," high-risk sexual behaviors, substance abuse and/or suicide. High-risk youth are often resistant to cognitive and behavioral therapies. They resent attempts by therapists to analyze them, and many lack the tools to either articulate their pain or receive instruction and guidance. Isolated and unheard for so long, they now refuse to listen.

Rather than declaring the behavior of high-risk youth an outrage and filling our correctional institutions with discarded young lives, supporting poetry programs is a positive and vastly more effective approach. The best way we can show our commitment to youth is to empower them to live healthy and productive lives. If young people feel heard and respected, if they develop a sense of self that is not based on the messages of failure they have received, and if they can relate to the struggles and dreams of others, they can begin to create a positive future for themselves and for their communities.

WHERE WE ARE
The Art from Ashes offices are located in the Denver Arts District one block east of Santa Fe on 9th and Inca: 853 Inca St., Suite 1A, Denver CO 80204. We're in the same building as the Red Chair Art Gallery at the south door next to Bull & Davies P.C. (They actually have a sign!). Come visit us; we'd love to see you, and we always have the kettle on.

COMING SOON: Details on the three Art from Ashes programs
Phoenix Rising Poetry and Spoken Word Program
Casting Shadows Drama Therapy Program
Drawing on Air Visual Arts Program

DETAILS & DOWNLOADS
Non-Discrimination Policy
Values Statement
Inclusivity Statement
501(c)(3) status
2008 990
2007 990
2008 NRC youth survey
2007 NRC youth survey
Information packet
List of facilitators, staff and volunteers
Information on youth workshops
Information on adult workshops

:: Non-Discrimination Policy
:: Values Statement
:: Inclusivity Statement

:: download a copy of our 501(c)(3) status here
:: download a copy of our 2008 990 here (84 KB pdf file)
:: download a copy of our 2007 990 here (466 KB pdf file)

:: download the results of the 2008 NRC youth survey funded by the Colorado Council on the Arts (48 KB pdf)
:: download the results of the 2007 NRC youth survey funded by the Colorado Council on the Arts (438 KB pdf)

For more information on our program:
:: download our information packet (600 KB pdf)
:: CLICK HERE for a list of facilitators, staff and volunteers.

For more information on our workshops:
:: CLICK HERE for information on our current, previous and upcoming youth workshops
:: CLICK HERE for information on our current and upcoming adult workshops

Youth writing workshops serve up to 20 young people in a two-hour session. Adult writing workshops are limited to six people per one-hour session. Groups can be tailored to meet the needs of young singles, married couples, single parents, women only, men only, youth or children. Individual sessions also are available.

:: CLICK HERE to download previous versions of our newsletter The Ascent or sign up on the left to receive it via email (quarterly)

Please call or email us to receive additional information on how this time-tested and effective process can help young people heal and grow through creative expression.